


tea time

by eternalsession



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, F/M, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:47:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21668476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternalsession/pseuds/eternalsession
Summary: chatfic based on an idea i had that doro, sylv, claude, and hilda would all be in a group chat because they have similar personalities that mesh well, more of like a mash of memes and hcs than anything. gonna add more tags as they come!
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Sylvain Jose Gautier, Edelgard von Hresvelg/Claude von Riegan, Marianne von Edmund/Hilda Valentine Goneril
Comments: 26
Kudos: 106





	1. discord

Welcome to the beginning of the claude, doro ✩, hilda♡, sylvain group.

\--> claude added doro ✩

\--> claude added hilda♡

claude changed the channel name: tea time :frog: :tea:

claude changed the channel icon

claude Today at 00:49

i got tired of sending all of you individual messages whenever I wanna sip tea so fuck it group chat time

sylvain Today at 00:49

will you please spill the tea already I’ve been waiting for this since this morning

claude Today at 00:49

yeah okay sure, roll call everyone here?

doro ✩ Today at 00:50

present! lovely to see you all tonight

hilda♡ Today at 00:50

heeeere! oh hey dorothea! i saw your new vid, the knife part really caught me off guard lshkjdfkljsh

claude Today at 00:50

ok tea ti-

wait what the hell do you mean the knife part… i was gna watch that video while i ate dinner what the fuck did you do with a knife doro…

doro ✩ Today at 00:50

like and subscribe to find out! ;)

slyvain Today at 00:50

PLEASE CAN I HAVE A WAFFLE

claude Today at 00:51

do not worry little one, santa claude always delivers presents to good boys and girls

on the first day of Christmas your true love gave to you…

_claude sent TEA.png_

a fuckin gallon of tea this shit is crazy

this isn’t sponsored btw but hmu lipton i make fire advertisements

sylvain Today at 00:52

please sir… i haven’t seen my wife and kids in years… just let me have this tea so i can go home a war hero…

claude Today at 00:52

so we apparently have a new teacher coming in or whatever right

which is cool and all normally nobody would pay it any mind

but i caught a glimpse of them talking to rhea

now i know what you’re thinking

“claude how the fuck did you know they were the new teacher”

cause they literally walked up to me and said “hey im the new teacher nice to meet you” as i was walkin by

usually when i meet new people i try to get all dolled up, you know

i was just walkin back to my dorm, wearing my golden deer pjs with a loaf of bread in my mouth

and this guy just walks up to me

this is not my public persona i was just hungry please erase that image from your head

doro ✩ Today at 00:55

KLSJAHDFAISHLJKHAESW;FLSDKJHFL

hilda♡ Today at 00:55

OH MY GOD IS THAT WHERE YOU WENT SFHSJGSFH

sylvain Today at 00:55

LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ARE YOU DEADASS?

claude Today at 00:55

I AM DEADASS IT WAS LIKE AN HOUR BEFORE BREAKFAST TIME MY SLEEP SCHEDULE WAS JUST FUCKED I NEEDED SOME CARBS MAN WHY’D THEY WALK UP TO ME LIKE THAT

I WAS SUPPOSED TO WOW THEM WITH MY SEXY ALLURE NOW WHENEVER THEY SEE ME THEY’RE GONNA BE LIKE “oh that’s the guy with the banana nut muffin! hey!”

MY PUBLIC IMAGE

hilda♡ Today at 00:56

HFJKDSLHAFKJASFDKLSAHKL CLAUDE NO

WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR SEXY ALLURE THEY’RE A PROFESSOR, THEY’RE PROBABLY MARRIED OR SOMETHING

claude Today at 00:56

but if they think i’m hot maybe they’ll give me extra credit ;)

sylvain Today at 00:56

claude you’re the valedictorian

why the fuck do you need extra credit

claude Today at 00:56

i'm. the salutatorian.

as much as i call her baby she works her ass off i gotta respect that

sylvain Today at 00:56

ahh, makes sense, see you say you have to respect her efforts and then use every method at your disposal to win, even if it means lowkey cheating

doro ✩ Today at 00:56

makes sense to me!

hilda♡ Today at 00:57

who wouldn’t?

sylvain Today at 00:57

well if you ever want to learn how to seduce someone you know whose line to hit

claude Today at 00:57

i follow doro’s makeup tutorials im pretty sure my looks alone will stun people into loving me

hilda♡ Today at 00:57

djhfkdjhlskj it’s the knifeliner babey!

claude Today at 00:57

the what.

sylvain Today at 00:57

the what.

doro ✩ Today at 00:57

:knife:

hilda♡ Today at 00:57

:knife:

claude Today at 01:12

KLJMHDASLKJHASLKFJHAS HAHAHAHAHA WHAT WAS THAT SEQUENCE AT THE BEGINNING

WHY DID YOU JUST STOMP INTO YOUR KITCHEN LIKE THAT

SYLVAIN JUST SCREAMED FELIX

IT IS 1 AM WHAT IS THIS VIDEO

doro ✩ Today at 01:15

if looks could kill, am i right?

sylvain Today at 01:15

i love you lmfaooo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) im never fucking doing discord format again if i have to type "today at 00:56" ever again i might snap my keyboard in half, so expect this to just get lazier  
> 2) i just stopped writing here but there will be More at my discretion  
> 3) shoutout to my friend marth (sgwuo on ao3) for giving me inspiration for this i literally would have sat on this hc for the rest of my life without it  
> 4) my fic my ships. i write for my underappreciated loves, more to be added, more characters, etc  
> hope u enjoyed it, and continue to enjoy it! :D


	2. guitar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> claude and sylvain in single dms

sylvain: just learned how to play a whole song on my guitar

sylvain: not bad for picking it up a month ago

claude: oh sick what did you learn

slyvain: it’s this [lil indie tune](https://youtu.be/iaezjCMkKUI) i heard on youtube, i had to pretty much figure it out by ear because none of these people put their tabs up for me to see :pensive:

claude: th-

claude: djfklsajhsakdfjhskajhd

claude: HAHAHAHAHA

claude: THAT’S A [REAL SONG](https://youtu.be/vBy7FaapGRo) DUMBASS

sylvain: .

sylvain: what the fuck do you mean it’s a real song.

claude: you’re so fucking stupid

claude: [loosens tie]

sylvain: NO NOT YOU TOO INGRID DOES THIS TO ME ALL THE TIME PLEASE IM BEGGING YOU

claude: ITS LITERALLY THE SAME NAME AS THE TITLE

claude: YOU JUST CLICKED IT CAUSE YOU SAW ANIME CHARACTERS

sylvain: SO WHAT

sylvain: ARE YOUT ELLING ME YOU WOULDN’T

sylvain: FUCK OFF

claude: HADFJKSLHAKDJSHFLKSAH HAHAHAHA

claude: i love you

sylvain: >:[

claude: your utter stupidity aside,

sylvain: I DON’T LISTEN TO MUSIC HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW

claude: LET ME COMPLIMENT YOU IM LAUGHING TOO MUCH RN

claude: ITS OK WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES

sylvain: THEN DON’T FLAME ME FOR IT

claude: no.

claude: LOOK

claude: it really is cool that you learned that one by ear

sylvain: oh yeah sure let’s just pretend you didn’t just cook me over easy just now

claude: yo shut up

claude: its fuckin cool, instruments are hard to learn

claude: you must be a fast learner

sylvain: i have heard that a few times

sylvain: i remember i was helping annie with her math homework and she got mad at me for understanding something she didn’t

claude: oh my god

claude: are you one of those natural-born geniuses?

sylvain: uhhh

claude: it all makes sense now

sylvain: hey i work hard too sometimes

sylvain: at things i like

claude: yeah like seducing everyone around you

sylvain: has it worked on you yet? :wink:

claude: .

claude: sylvain were i not already pining for someone else i would have been in your bed months ago

sylvain: wait really

sylvain: i was just bullshitting

claude: you’re hot, we have the same interests, you make for a great conversational partner, and you understand my desire for memes is equally as great as my desire to talk about how to fix this country’s broken system

claude: literally what’s not to like

sylvain: kljvdfs;fdkhjsakljfhdsa;lfjkdhsa

sylvain: skl;jahfak;lsdjfhsajhf

sylvain: skjah;fdls;klajfhsd;lfjkshfa

sylvain: AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

claude: uh oh i think i broke him

sylvain: I JUST SAID I WAS BULLSHITTING WHY DID YOU GO AND COMPLIMENT ME LIKE THIS

claude: I FELT BAD CAUSE YOU WERE BITCHING SO MUCH EARLIER

sylvain: THAT WAS JUST A JOKE WHAT THE HELL

sylvain: CLAUDE I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

_sylvain sent YELLCATSCRATCHPOST.png_

claude: LOL

claude: ily2 :yellow_heart:

claude: so i have to ask now

claude: why did you buy that guitar

sylvain: it sounds dope, plus have you ever seen someone walkin around with a guitar strapped to their back? makes me look cooler than i am

sylvain: also i really wanted to learn how to play this song and a few others

sylvain: like this one too, this is such a relaxing tune

claude: .

claude: you…

claude: didn’t do this to serenade people?

sylvain: what

claude: you, Sylvain Jose Gautier, did not pick up the guitar as another method of seduction?

sylvain: oh my god i can do that

sylvain: i totally forgot

claude: .

claude: .

claude: .

claude: .

claude: .

claude: .

claude: .

claude: .

claude: .

claude: .

sylvain: WH- LEAVE ME ALONE I JUST LIKE THE WAY THIS SHIT SOUNDS

claude: and i have inadvertently created a monster.

sylvain: im sure felix will love it when i tell him i see the sunrise in his brown eyes

claude: how much did that guitar cost

sylvain: not much? it’s a beginner’s guitar, less than 50

claude: would you throw 50 into a furnace?

sylvain: …

sylvain: i see your point.

sylvain: soooooooooo

sylvain: Mister Von Riegan

claude: oh no

sylvain: who’re ya pinin for?

sylvain: you can tell your ol buddy

sylvain: your best pal sylvain, can’t you? :wink:

claude: if you snitch i will do something to you far worse than felix can ever imagine

sylvain: whoa

sylvain: wait you’re just going to tell me

claude: why not?

claude: we’re cool like that

claude: besides then i can tell you everything i love about her and you will be forced to listen

sylvain: i

claude: NO BACKING OUT NOW YOU STARTED THIS

claude: SIT DOWN AND FINISH YOUR TEA YOUNG MAN

sylvain: ohhhhhhhhh uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

sylvain: the dizziness! gotta go!

claude: you sick fuck

claude: using my words against me

claude: so do you want to know or not

sylvain: yeah sure hit me up

claude: it’s edelgard

sylvain: .

sylvain: KLJHGDFLSAKJHFDSAKFJHSAL;FDKHS;ALKJFH

sylvain: KJHDVSAL;KJHFGDJSLAKFHSA;LKFJHSA;LFKJ

sylvain: slahjfdlksdjhsalf?????????? sdakjhglhfdasjfhas ? ?? ? ? ? ?

sylvain: I BEG YOUR GODDAMN PARDON-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i actually didn't know this was a real song before i went to write this chapter,


	3. quill & parchment

Edelgard Von Hresvelg (06:40): Dear Claude,

I would like to formally invite you to attend a luncheon with me later on today, else at your next earliest convenience. At the risk of sounding too forward, I do find you an excellent conversational partner, and I would very much like to continue our conversation from last time.

Best wishes,  
Edelgard Von Hresvelg.

After typing up that veritable Victorian letter of a DM, she immediately showed her phone to her best friend, wordlessly asking if what she had written was acceptable. The tall, somewhat lanky, black haired man who attended her, however, knew her well enough to understand what she was seeking, despite her poor communication skills. He nodded to her, leaning closer to the small, hand-held device, to read over the words once or twice.

“An excellent message, as always, Lady Edelgard,” he said, truly finding no fault with the message. She, of course, knew that he would never lie to her about something like this. So, of course she protested his praise.

“But, Hubie,” she started, and was immediately met with a sigh.

“Please, Edelgard, do not take that nickname with me as well. It is enough that Ferdinand and Dorothea have started.”

“But, Hubie,” she said, this time with a more forceful tone; seeing as she would not back down from this, he held his tongue. His body language, however, revealed his true feelings on the matter. She knew him as well as he knew her, so even a slight shift in body language was obvious to her. Still, what he couldn’t have realized is that his eyes creased just a bit whenever someone called him that—as such, she made sure to call him by that name, at least when in private.

“What if it’s too forward? What if it was too brief of a message? Ideally, I would have liked to have send him a bit of a longer message, but the box was getting too small to keep typing…” she fretted, unconsciously fiddling with her hair. Hubert chuckled, ever so quietly. A quiet chuckle was more than enough to fill the air, though.

“You worry too much. You merely stated you enjoyed talking with him, which are your true feelings. I will not speak for everyone, but certainly someone like Claude would not take that to be an indication of romantic feeling, if that was what you were worried about.”

Hubert expected her to regain her composure and nod to him, telling him that she was wrong to worry so much over a simple lunch. As her face turned redder and redder, his face slowly started to lose its color, as if she drained his color directly from him. He covered his face with one of his hands, drawing his fingers in to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“Edelgard…”

Her fingers twirled faster. She made no attempt at eye contact before speaking again. “How is it you always know what to say, Hubert?”

After another deep sigh, he regained his composure. “Well, it is no matter; merely a surprise for me. I suppose this is the first time I’ve seen you enamored in a romantic way with another. As far as romantic matters go, I am afraid I will not be of much help. I have not been privy to such feelings myself, though I support you in your endeavors as always.”

Her head snapped like a rubber band to meet his eyes again as soon as he finished his first sentence. Hubert generally disapproved of Claude for his carefree attitude, as it made him out to be the kind of guy who didn’t much care about anything, let alone his public image. However, Hubert was also no stranger to reading between the lines. For example, Claude always makes sure his clothes all fit well, his hair never looks unkempt, he applies a faint coat of makeup in the morning, stays up to date on the latest fashion trends, and wears a teeny amount of perfume. Claude was a man who cared greatly about his appearance, it was simply that the appearance he wanted to put on was that of a carefree guy who anyone can talk to. The thing that Hubert didn’t like about Claude was, in essence, that he felt like Claude had wasted potential. What she saw in him specifically was beyond him, however.

“Hubie!” she said, instantly closing the gap between them and hugging him, squeezing tightly. If he was frank it was… kind of unpleasant. Not the hugging part, of course, the “Edelgard has monstrous strength” part. Also this was out of character for her. She seemed to notice it as well, though not before the action was already done and gone, and snapped back to place, as if she’d never moved. She cleared her throat.

“I suppose that is the Dorothea influence. Please, pay it no mind. Indeed, forget this ever happened.”

He smiled, the kind of smile where his eyes crease, then quietly said “No. I don’t think I will.”

claude (06:41): YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

claude: HILDA HILDA HILDA

claude: IM LOSIN MY MIND BRO

claude: EL JUST SENT ME SOMETHING WILD

_claude sent WHYISSHESOCUTE.png_

claude: HILDA WAKE THE FUCK UP THIS IS SO IMPORTANT

_claude sent Gokuheartattack.png_

claude: PLEEAASEEEEEEEEEE SFGKASLHJDKLFJAS I NEED SOMEONE TO YELL AT

hilda♡ (06:55): yo why are you blowing up my-

hilda♡: NO FUCKIN WAY

claude: why are you awake lol

hilda♡: mari

claude: oh no :disappointed_relieved:

claude: she ok?

hilda♡: they don’t call me valentine for nothin’ sweetie!

claude: what…

claude: does that mean…

claude: ill go say her to her later today

hilda♡: thanks claude! it would mean a lot to me :yellow_heart:

claude: papa claude always looks out for his fawns :yellow_heart:

hilda♡: anyway THIS IS ABOUT YOU MR. VON RIEGAN

hilda♡: SHE HIT YOU UP FIRST FOR ONCE THIS IS PROGRESS :clap: :clap: :clap:

claude: IS IT?

claude: BRO AM I READING TOO MUCH INTO THIS OR LIKE

claude: YOU KNOW HOW CLUMSY SHE IS THIS COULD BE MY CHANCE

hilda♡: WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO? TELL HER NO?

_hilda_ _♡ sent ben.gif_

claude: LMAOOOOO

claude: i love that gif

claude: obviously im gonna tell her yes but i feel like she might get mad if i just say “sure lol”

hilda♡: no shit she’ll get mad if you just say two words in response to that quill and parchment ass DM

claude: see hilda this is why i love you

claude: no one else has the balls to tell me when i’m saying something stupid

hilda♡: they don’t call me valentine for nothin’ sweetie!

claude: you can’t just keep saying that phrase

claude: it doesn’t gain meaning

claude: ok im gonna go do my morning meditation

claude: see u in class

hilda♡: have fun! let me know how that dm goes

claude (06:59): see u soon :yellow_heart:

And with that message, he pressed the lock button on the side of his iPhone and tossed it to the side, then rolled out of bed. Usually he liked to get his morning meditation in before anything else, though today was an oddity for him. He didn’t usually hit the snooze on his alarm, and he also didn’t usually get a Direct Message from Edelgard asking about a “luncheon”. Still, a routine was a routine, and he was no slacker. Better get to meditating, while you still have time, he thought.

Sitting down cross-legged on a mat he had bought for this purpose, he placed his hands together, joining his thumbs at the fingerprint. With a deep breath, he began his morning routine. As he allowed thoughts to pass in and out of his head, he concentrated on his breathing. Feeling the air in his nose, his mouth, his throat, his lungs, then expelled from whence it came. He felt his stomach expand and deflate, and, gradually, felt his mind grow sharper. When he first began to meditate, he felt like he was always just having stray thoughts, waiting for the timer to go off. Now, he made a game of predicting when his alarm would go off. By his estimates it would go off in three… two… one…

The sound of a bird’s chirping shattered the silence, followed closely by a “bingo” from the singular inhabitant of that room (Hilda was in Marianne’s room, from what he could make of it; that was not an uncommon occurrence). Next was his shower, then was getting dressed, before finally heading out at 08:00. Classes (school-wide) didn’t start up until 10:00, so, for the time being, he decided to bum it in Sylvain’s dorm. Dimitri was always out to do his morning workout by then, but even if he wasn’t, it wasn’t as if he was on bad terms with him. He took his phone out of his pocket to check up on the status of said friend before departing.

claude (08:01): mornin

sylvain (08:02): yo

claude: oh good you’re up

claude: you seem like a “sleep in” kinda guy, so i figured you’d still be conked out

sylvain: lmao what’s that supposed to mean

sylvain: im up

sylvain: you wanna play some pokemon before breakfast? i got a new tech i wanna test out

claude: hell yea, im comin over as we speak

claude: i gotta show you this message i got this morning bro you not gonna believe this shit

sylvain: :zoomeyes:

_sylvain sent RheaTea.png_

claude: HWOIHFKL;SDJHAKL;SJH

claude: HOW DID YOU GET THAT PICTURE AND WHY DO YOU HAVE IT

claude: LMFAOOOOO WHAT

sylvain: get the fuck over here already man don’t leave a gal w8n

claude: u got it boss

claude: over n out

Perusing through his direct messages, he finally got around to replying to Edelgard. At first, he really did want to just send a simple “sure, also, don’t be a fucking weirdo!” but decided against it. It wouldn’t really be received well, but also, he wanted to respect the effort she put into the message. Thus, why he waited until after his routine to message her. The messaging Sylvain first part was just a bit of carelessness, which he was prone to from time to time.

claude (08:10): hey! thanks for inviting me, i would love to come hang out and eat lunch with you. im flattered that you find me a fun conversational partner, and likewise, i find talking to you is fun; you humor my arguments a lot, which most people don’t like to do. ill come find you around 15:00, then we can decide what to eat from there.

claude: p.s., you don’t have to be so formal. we’re friends, right? you could have simply asked “do you want to get lunch sometime?” which i still would have accepted. it was a very cute message to wake up to, though. anyway, see ya soon!

And with that, he pocketed his phone and headed to Sylvain’s dorm. He didn’t realize how excited he was until he was already at a full sprint, at which point, feeling the wind on his face was more than reward enough for running like that, at that hour. He could barely wait to share the good news, and so his legs carried him as fast as they would allow.

Likewise, in the Black Eagle dorm, Edelgard was celebrating her victory in a similar way: namely, screaming into her pillow. In all of his years, Hubert had never seen her act in such a way. He would have figured she would be more collected about all of this, but he supposed that even she was not above acting like a schoolgirl with a crush. Then again, remembering the time he and Ferdinand exchanged confessions at the same time, he was not immune either. It mattered not to him, he decided, for as long as she was happy, he would be too.

“Well, Edelgard, I have to be heading off to Ferdinand’s room now. I will see you in class,” he said, equipping his backpack and offering her a final wave before exiting the room. She exchanged a goodbye with him, then quickly turned to her own iPhone, pulling up Discord as fast as she could.

Edelgard Von Hresvelg (08:15): Dorothea! Claude just returned my message, just now. It worked! He agreed! I’m so happy it worked out!!

doro✩: oh fuck yeah!

doro✩: what did he say?

doro✩: show me show me show me

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: How do I show you?

doro✩: press the down and lock keys at the same time while your screen is showing claude’s message

doro✩ that’ll screenshot the message

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: Okay, I think I did it. Now what?

doro✩: now press the little + mark in the bottom left

doro✩: then click the first picture at the top left in your boxes

doro✩: then press the blue arrow

_Edelgard Von Hresvelg sent Screenshot_20191207-223255_Discord.jpg_

doro✩: whoa you actually did it in one try

doro✩: im proud

doro✩: AND WOW LOOK AT THAT MESSAGE!!!!! GET IT SISTER!! :clap: :clap:

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: Thank you! I wouldn’t have asked him on my own if not for your assistance. You helped my confidence a lot, Dorothea. :smile:

doro✩: omg ur so cute

doro✩: claude is so lucky

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: You two keep calling me cute, trying to flatter me will get you nowhere! It feels like you don’t take me seriously.

doro✩: no no no honey its not like that at all

doro✩: of course we take you seriously!! for us it’s like… seeing you try so genuinely, i guess, is what we think is cute.

doro✩: like if u look at some other ppl like felix or sylvain they’re not really trying so hard to make a good impression on ppl they’re just goin with the flow

doro✩: i love sylvie tho don’t get me wrong, but, you get it

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: I believe so. So it’s not a bad thing?

doro✩: of course not! claude is a sweet guy, so i’m sure he’ll treat you right :bi_heart:

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: Do you think it’ll actually work out the way I want it to? What if he only thinks of us as friends?

doro✩: tell u what my old theatre teacher used to tell me in high school

doro✩: the best fruit is always out on a limb.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is one of my favorite ships in this game so enjoy whats in store, even i dont know whats comin next i just kinda freestyled this  
> also yes i know edelgard is kind of ooc in this at times (at least i think she is) but i thought what i had written was funny so i just kept it  
> also last note but sylvain and doro bought each other nitro [i will not elaborate on why]


	4. shake it out

sylvain (22:53): yo

doro✩: oh hey sylvie

doro✩: how can i help you?

sylvain: can i ask you a well-intentioned question that may be potentially worded in an insensitive way

doro✩: venmo me $15 dollars if you want to just ask

doro✩: and if it’s worth my time i’ll answer your question

doro✩ (22:56): wait why did you actually do it

sylvain: so you’re bisexual, right? that’s like… liking boys and girls, to oversimplify a bit… but like how do u know?

doro✩: what the fuck are you asking me

sylvain: you, like, have a little experience with both right? you experimented and decided u were ok with either or, right?

doro✩: a person’s genitals has nothing to do with my sexuality, sylvain.

sylvain: so then u don’t need to have any experience to be bi

doro✩: no??

doro✩: why would you need to-

doro✩: omg

doro✩: sylvain are you bi???

sylvain: i don’t know!

doro✩: come to my dorm right now

sylvain: wh- it’s almost midnight

doro✩: i sent your money back come to my dorm right now we can NOT do this over discord

sylvain: well

sylvain: alright fuck it im on my way

“I am… really not dressed for this,” he said, grabbing his shirt around his stomach and tugging on it a bit. He was dressed in what he considered pajamas, consisting of only a tank top and a pair of short athletic shorts. Seeing as it was the middle of winter, he needed to at least be prepared for the cold that would assault him when he opened the door to the outside world. He sighed at the prospect of having to look even slightly presentable, but he supposed he never wanted someone like Dorothea to see him looking like… well, like how anyone would look when they’re relaxing in their home? He was very confident in his looks, to be sure, but he wasn’t exactly the kind of pretty that would look good even in just sweats and a hoodie. At least, he didn’t think so.

He turned a glance to his roommate, who devoted his full attention to… something on his computer. His headphones were on, and at a glance, Sylvain saw a screen littered with circles. Well, it was none of his business; if anything, he was glad that, per his request, his roommate ordered a mouse that made no noise when clicking. After equipping himself with a pair of black leggings, a black turtleneck, and his varsity jacket, he tapped on the shoulder of his roommate to let him know he would be heading out for a bit.

“Sylvain, it’s very late. I would not advise heading out at this hour.”

“I’m just going to another dorm. I’m not up to my usual antics,” he replied, flashing a brief smile. “I’ll be back later, I just didn’t want you to freak out or anything, I guess. Ugh, I don’t know. Later,” he said, not allowing his jumbled thoughts and words to take over for him any more than they already had. He turned around and headed toward the door, and right as soon as he placed his hand on the doorknob, the blonde behind him replied. 

“Alright, then, I’ll see you later, Sylvain. Be safe.”

The blast of cold air that he was met with was a stark contrast to the kind message he received just a moment ago. He took in a breath of that cool, winter air, allowing it to fill his lungs, then exhaled again. He cleared his mind of the mundane task of walking to his destination, instead putting his airpods in and focusing on the music, otherwise the occasional stray thought about whatever thing that caught his mind. Before he knew it, he was standing before the door to Dorothea’s room. He took out his headphones, placing them back in their case, then knocked three times on the door. The door opened almost immediately.

“Sylvie! Come on in, it’s cold as fuck outside,” she said, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him inside. He didn’t protest it at all, but she was still… stronger than she looked. He wasn’t exactly on the thin side, but she still seemed to have no problem dragging him in. After she shut the door, he took off his shoes and coat, then allowed himself to be ushered into her room, taking a seat on… a bean-bag chair, it seemed. Her room was very… filled with her personality, he would say.

“Oh! Sylvie, I didn’t know you wore glasses? They’re cute on you.”

“Ah, shit,” he said, scratching his head. “I forgot to put my contacts on. I was trying to prevent you from seeing me bumming it.”

She giggled, and wow, was she cute. “It’s almost midnight, Sylvie, I would not have thought anything of it, especially not when I called you so spontaneously. I mean, look at what I’m wearing,” she said, gesturing to her own garments. A very modest tank top and pajama bottoms.

“I see your point,” he said with a laugh. “We can’t all look as good as you do, though, Dorothea. I have to try a bit harder than that.”

“Oh, knock it off. You know you’re pretty, you don’t me to tell you so,” she said, play shoving him a bit. It certainly did a number for his confidence, to be told that by someone as pretty as her. Who knew having people compliment the parts of yourself that you feel self-conscious about would feel so nice?

“Anyway! Onto why I called you here—what’s this about being bi,” she asked, scooting her own bean-bag chair to sit flush against his and placing her chin in her hands. “Tell me _all_ about it.”

He chuckled again, though to her it sounded a little pained. She wondered what that was about. His eyes refused to meet with hers, though, and though his face was smiling, his eyes seemed to be somewhere else. “You sure know how to make a guy feel special, you know?”

She didn’t say anything in response to that. She had no way of knowing his mind; in fact, had she not known him prior to this meeting, she may have taken offense to that comment, with that body language. She did, however, understand him, just a bit. He never vented to her (and as far as she could tell, to any _one_ ), but she did know that he was battling with his own demons. His behavior just then proved to her that he was unable to, in some capacity, accept genuine kindness. It was the sad smile that she doubted he noticed that gave it away. She put a hand on his knee to assure him that she was still sitting next to him, and as if he were responding to a stage cue, he began to speak again.

“I’m not sure if there’s even much to say. I guess it was kind of silly of me, in retrospect, to assume that I needed some sort of experience to call myself bisexual, I just… I guess I didn’t want to disrespect real bisexual people by claiming something with no knowledge of it.”

He breathed a sigh. What he admitted should not have come as such a relief to him, seeing as what he said didn’t even commit to anything, but getting it off of his chest felt so cathartic. She grabbed him by the shoulders, then, demanding all of his attention.

“Sylvain.”

There it was again. The way his name fell off of her tongue like that, it… he couldn’t describe it, really. He couldn’t rationalize the way he reacted to hearing her say it. Every other time someone had referred to him by name in person, it was always to tell him to fuck off. The way that his father said it, the way Felix said it, the way Ingrid said it…. Even though he knew when Ingrid reprimanded him, it came from a place of love, and when Dimitri did it, his voice had a certain tender attribute, it never felt good. Maybe at some point he began to hate his name.

Guess that was what happened when you kept everything bottled up, huh? He always felt like a bottle of soda that had just been shaken up; every time someone even slightly twisted open the cap, the contents of the bottle threatened to explode then and there. Perhaps he was just too caught up in managing everyone else’s problems that he forgot he had his own? There were a lot of takes on the whole life thing that he thought he had figured out. He knew there was no use mulling over what was already said and done, that it’s better not to focus on the bad shit in your life because you’ll just be sad all the time, that you should cherish what you do have and tell people you love them whenever you get that feeling, but… perhaps he took that a bit too far. Maybe he should have thought more about what was bad, at least so he co—

“Sylvain,” she said, snapping him back to attention. “Don’t look away from me.”

He felt the grip on his shoulders tighten, not to the point of hurting, but it did center him back in reality. It was enough to let him know she was still here.

“Oh my,” he said, turning on his characteristic grin. “This is awfully uncharacteristic of me, my lady. Please excuse my rude behavior, I—”

“You can drop the façade, as well.”

She was curt, though her delivery was not cold. Her words cut through him with surgical precision, and, given that she had shut him up good with that last response, he ceased to open his mouth.

“I know your type, Sylvain. You think you’ve got everything figured out. You don’t realize just how bad you’ve got it, though. You may even have forgotten a few basic concepts along the way, because they didn’t immediately help you in your quest for self-destruction. That’s the kind of guy you are, right, Sylvie? You think to yourself ‘I don’t need to be happy as long as my friends are’, don’t you? I’ve seen it, you know. I’ve seen you take the blame for something Felix did, then after the fact, he fumbles through some half-assed thank you, then implies the whole ordeal was your fault. I’ve seen Ingrid chew you out in front of a bunch of people for something she fundamentally misunderstood, then refuse to apologize for sticking her nose in your business. But you think that it’s all okay because they both have their own struggles and traumas, while you’re just some cis white man whose dad pays for his college, so of course you can’t even begin to bitch to them about struggle, right? You’ve got it so easy, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” he breathed, this time making sure to meet her eyes. “I do have it easy. What do you expect me to say, Dorothea? How could I begin to imply that my life isn’t perfect when I have all of the privilege that I do? What would I say to Ingrid? ‘Hey, sorry about your being in the closet but maybe stop projecting the fact that you wish you had my life onto me in public by berating me in front of my peers, thanks, love you’? To Felix? ‘Sucks that trans people get killed every day just for existing and there is nothing I can do to assuage your fear but check out this childhood trauma I have that you didn’t ask to hear!’”

“No, Sylvain.” Her eyes were locked on his, though they peered deeper than that.

“Again with the Sylvain. Just shut up with that caring tone of voice already! I just yelled at you for trying to give me advice. Of course I understood the point of your speech; you wanted to point out to me how stupid I am for letting that shit happen to me, for trying to compare my struggles to their struggles, how birth or status doesn’t define people and people can be either happy or sad despite that. Even worse, there’s also an implication from my own words that I think Ingrid’s or Felix’s life is inherently sadder than my own just due to their being marginalized, yes, I know! But—” he tried to continue. It was at this point that he realized he was not merely thinking these thoughts, but vocalizing them, which did explain why he couldn’t continue his line of thought. At the same time as he realized this, he realized the reason he couldn’t continue his line of thought was because he began crying somewhere in the middle of that. He kept trying to force out more words to explain himself, but the more he tried, the uglier his sobs became.

Oh, that was great. Just wonderful, actually. The hottest person he knew just saw him unload his trauma to the point of ugly crying at fuck late o’clock. Truly, the worst news all day. Guess that was what he got for wanting to make a decent impression, to let her think he was all put together on the outside.

For exactly this reason, he did not expect the hands on his shoulder to drift to his back and pull him close. All the while, he could only think about how he didn’t want to get snot on her titties, how he needed to calm himself down, how he needed to get his breathing under control. It was already frustrating and embarrassing and humiliating enough for this kind of thing to happen, but to receive kindness for something like this was simply too much for his little brain to process.

“Take a moment, remind yourself,” she started singing, in a low voice.

“To take a moment and find yourself.”

He knew these lyrics.

“Take a moment and ask yourself,”

His breaths stopped running so ragged.

“If this is how we fall apart?”

His tears stopped actively running.

“But it’s not,” she purred. “But it’s not, but it’s not, but it’s not, but it’s not…”

He wiped the snot from his nose with the sleeve of his turtleneck; not ideal, but, it made him feel like he had just a little bit of control.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay…”

He sat up, then took off his glasses, wiping his tears from his tired eyes. He put them on after he was done.

“You’ve got nothing, you’ve got nothing, you’ve got nothing to fear.”

He finally met her eyes again and thought to himself that if he had a dollar for every time he was baffled by the concept of receiving kindness just tonight, he might already be a millionaire.

“I’m here,” she continued, “I’m here, I’m here.”

After it was all out of his system, he managed a laugh. It wasn’t the usual laugh from him, she noticed. She didn’t have any sort of super hearing, but she always had an ear for knowing the sounds and tones of voices. Sylvain’s usual laugh, even if he found something genuinely funny, had a hollow ring to it, almost like it was expecting something else to fill that gap in sound. This laugh lacked that hollowness. It was music to her ears.

“Did you just serenade me with Steven Universe, Dorothea?”

“Hey,” she said, pathing to her nightstand to grab a few tissues, both for the snot on her chest and in his nose. “Say what you want about the show, but that song really got me through a few tough times. Figured it would help you too.” She handed him a few tissues.

“Sorry about the mess,” he said meekly.

“We can all be a little messy, Sylvie. I don’t mind getting a little dirty at times, so don’t worry about it. I knew what would happen if I did that, so don’t think it’s just your fault.”

He smiled at her again. “Fair enough. Thanks, Dorothea. I really appreciate this. Here, let me at least take that tissue to the trash for you.”

“Aww, Sylvain, your smile is really cute! You should do it more often!” She handed him her tissue.

“Wh—hey, I smile all the time.”

She only laughed in response, assuming her chair once more. He disposed of the tissues, then made his way back to his chair as well, thinking about what that laugh could be indicative of. Well, that wasn’t true. He knew damn well what she meant. Dorothea was scary, he thought. She could see through him so easily, like he was plasticwrap or something.

“Sorry this derailed like this,” he said, sitting down again. “But thanks to that conversation earlier I think I will try to be a little more honest with myself from now on, so my next confession comes much easier.”

“Well, a girl’s gotta get dirty sometimes to help out her friends, doesn’t she? Really, Sylvie, don’t worry about it. I didn’t expect this to take this sort of turn either, but if it helped you, I’m glad it did. You sound much fuller than you used to. I just wanted to hear about which men you found attractive so we could gossip about it. Claude and I do this all the time.”

He had no idea what “much fuller” was intended to mean, so he shrugged it off, assuming it was a compliment.

“Is that so? Sheesh, had I known it would have come to this I would have gotten something to eat before coming here. I’m hungry as hell,” he said, pulling phone out of his pants.

“So after all of that you’re not going to tell me who you think is hot? You’re just going to cry in my arms and le—“

“Dedue Molinaro is a three-course meal and a dessert,” he said, cutting her off. “Of _course_ I was going to tell you who I thought was hot. Please have a little bit more faith in me than that.”

She gasped. “Shut up! Your type is _Dedue_!?”

“Everyone’s type is Dedue, idiot. Name a person who doesn’t like him. I will wait.”

She paused for a moment. “Yeah… you right, you right. Still, though, I would have expected you to be more into thinner people. Like Ashe.”

“Or Felix, right? That’s where this is going? You trying to say I want to fuck Felix, Dorothea?” His tone was accusatory but hearing him just talk like usual was such a delight for her. He just sounded so healthy, like he recovered to full HP. She smiled smugly at him.

“Does someone have a widdle cwush?”

He laughed at that, probably a little harder than he should have. “Felix is definitely hot, I’ll give you that. Maybe if he never talked I’d have a crush on him. Alas. As for Ashe, he’s definitely cute, but… more like a puppy, I guess? I don’t think of him in that way. If I had to say anyone… hmm… I think Linhardt is pretty cute. The thought of having a tired boy resting his head in my lap is pretty cozy, not gonna lie.”

“You’ve really come into this despite not even saying the words ‘I think I’m bisexual’ at all this conversation, huh?” She chided him, but her playful tone let him know they were still on the same page.

“I figured someone as smart as you would get that much without me having to say it out loud,” he winked at her.

“No! You were supposed to let me tell you that gender and sexuality labels can be tried on and off if you feel like you’re questioning whether or not they’re for you! It was supposed to be this big thing! It was going to be a message to the viewers that trying out labels like that isn’t an affront to ‘real’ bisexual people! And I’m bisexual, so you would have _had_ to take that from me!! You ruined it!!”

Sylvain’s laughter progressed into a howl by the time she had finished her last sentence. Wiping tears from his eyes for the second time that day, he had a sudden thought.

“Wait are you, like, recording this?”

“No! I, I mean.. yeah! Maybe?? It was just supposed to be like this stupid like one off video for my side channel where I title it some bullshit like “My friend comes out as bi and tells me which of our classmates are hot” not this!!”

“Thea you better not post me having a panic attack on your damn Youtube channel!” He said, though as mad as he wanted to be, he couldn’t finish the sentence without laughing.

“I’m not going to upload you crying, of course! But that last part of our conversation was pretty cute, it could make for some good content, I’m just saying,” she said, caught up in his flow, laughing too. His phone rang.

“Oh that’s Claude. Yo what’s good bro? I just had a panic attack and—yea I’m good man don’t worry about it. I had a good support line,” he looked at her and chuckled. “Now I’m hungry as a bitch, we out to WaHo? Oh hell yeah, invite her, invite her! We bout to head out now—Thea get dressed I’m trying to bounce right now. No we were _not_ just f—it is so cold! You want her to head out dressed in a tank top and sweats? Are you crazy?”

She laughed, seeing his transition from being sad and angry to being so vibrant and happy. It really brought a smile to her face, especially just knowing that he trusted her enough to let loose with her. He really was so beautiful when he laughed like that, when he smiled like that. Like a diamond in the rough. As she donned a bit of an oversized hoodie and put on her shoes, she hummed a tune to herself. Sylvain was waiting for her in the doorway, idling away on his phone, until she approached him, declaring she was ready to go. He opened the door for her, and she took in the night air. She took a few steps out and swiveled on the ball of her foot, facing him with a wide grin on her face.

“It’s always darkest before the dawn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my thea hc is that she likes to quote songs (or manuela, which sometimes overlap) whenever she finds it suitable cause she has a sense for drama. It also makes it easy for me to end chapters dramatically. This chapter idea came to me in a dream honestly, a bit of it was kind of painful to write ngl lol, but hope u enjoy anyway. i love these two a lot and i havent shown dorothea too much love yet. 
> 
> (also they totally killed that shake it out duet after the last line, yes, of course sylvain knows every song she quotes)


	5. girls

Marianne was always the unusual sort. Wherever she went she always seemed to practically invite misfortune. In middle school she was mocked for that kind of thing and it stuck through the end of high school. Growing up with the idea that she always carried misfortune lead her to believe that it was simply a fact of life and not a concoction of unfortunate (pun not intended) circumstances. She had a few friends in school, but they never much interacted outside of it.

She always fancied herself alone.

That was why she moved out on her own, getting a fresh new start in a new city where nobody knew her. The first person to talk to her was Hilda (accompanied by Claude). They happened to sit next to each other in their English class, and the atmosphere the two provided was… very inviting, she thought. Their chemistry made it easy to cut in with a jape or two, or offer any general comments, as she was necessary to the continuation of the conversation.

She always wondered if Hilda talked to her on purpose. If she knew.

Her conversations with her and Claude became something of a comedy routine, where either one of them would say something ridiculous and inane (remembering specifically when Claude said something to the effect of “I think rocky road and hot sauce would have an interesting taste!”) and she or one of the other two would reply with something like “Give me a break” or “please do not do that”. It was a lot of fun, being with them.

She always wanted somewhere to belong.

She felt like she’d finally found it. College was a pretty awful time to think that life was finally starting though, she thought. Where was this the first 18 years of her life? Alas, beggars are in no position to be choosers, and as much as she wished she’d gotten to experience this before, she was more grateful than anything to be able to experience it now. But, as nice as anything can ever be, it of course, must come to an end.

She always knew she was simply one of many.

She just didn’t ever want to admit it. The feelings of friendship and camaraderie soon grew into something ( ~~terrifying and painful~~ )new and exciting. Love. The thorns entangled themselves around her heart as she slowly realized that she did not think of the pink haired beauty as merely a friend. No, of course not. That would be too simple. It would be too easy to just take what she had, her first friend in so, so long, and just be happy with that. She had to be picky and choosy.

She always hated that about herself.

She never could muster a positive thought about a situation like that. It was never praying for the best-case scenario, no, it was always waiting for the worst-case to come. It always did. Inevitably. What she would do next is wait, until the semester was over, confess her sins, and then move on to the next. A girl, liking another girl? It would never work out. It could never work out. They were too different, too far apart. And Hilda was too nice. She would try and tell her no gently. Her stomach churned.

She never could have guessed what came next.

hilda♡ (09:17): yo

mari: ehy

mari: hey*

hilda♡: u busy after class 2day? i wanna talk to u abt sth

mari: ?

mari: sure..

hilda♡: great! see u @ 3 then :yellow_heart:

She wondered what that meant. Did she find out? She hoped she wasn’t too obvious, but she… thought she never acted any differently, even after the realization. Usually if she just wanted to talk she would simply talk, without the need for the pretext. What could she possibly have to talk about with her? Is there a such thing as a friend break up?

The cacophony of negativity swirled in her head until the promised hour arrived. Hilda met with her as promised, heading out to a relatively unpopulated area: the back of the Arts building. It wasn’t that no one would see or hear them, just that it wouldn’t be out in the open. Nobody was there at this time, specifically, but other days a few stragglers would be hanging around. Hilda took a deep breath. She watched as she fiddled with her phone for a bit, apparently on Discord, then mumbled something regarding Claude to herself. Another deep breath.

She couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You’re so cute,” she thought.

“You think so? I’d say you’re the cute one,” she got in response.

Ah, I see, she thought. She said that aloud. And she got a compliment in return—score. Also: mortifying.

“What is it you wanted to talk about, Hilda?”

“I’ll just come out with it. I think that’s the best I can do.”

She tilted her head inquisitively.

“Marianne I like you and I want to go out with you. Like, as in dating. Like I’m in lesbians with you.”

So that was it, huh? After all of that worrying. After coming up with a whole plan of action that may have involved leaving the country and changing her name, she just got confessed _to_? Was that it? Was this some kind of cruel joke? She couldn’t help but laugh at the stupidity of it, of her, of her situation. Her friend started to form a look of panic at her laughter, wondering if it was some sort of sick rejection. After managing to compose herself after a short time, she took both of Hilda’s hands in her own and squeezed them.

“Me too.”

“Oh thank goodness. I was so scared! Especially when you started like that! I thought you were rejecting me!”

“I was the scared one! I was pining after you for months! I half-convinced myself that it was some form of white knight syndrome!”

Hilda scoffed, turning it into a competition. “Well the only reason I decided to talk to you was because I thought you were cute! I had no idea you had no friends in high school!”

Marianne’s hands squeezed tighter. “And that’s why I’m so glad I met you! Who knows what I’d be if not for you, if not for Claude!”

Hilda found it hard to meet her gaze. Those earnest and simple words that always somehow knew how to cut directly into her heart. It was a weird feeling to be appreciated so much, despite trying so little. She never tried to save Marianne; she never knew about the demons she was fighting under the surface. She just wanted to talk to the cute girl in her English class with the blue hair and she roped Claude into it.

“Listen, Marianne, you know I’m not…” she started, and the girl in question shook her head.

“I know. You hate it when people have expectations of you, right? You don’t want to let them down? I know about it already. I know you didn’t help me just because you’re that nice of a person. I know all of that already, so shut up.”

Hilda narrowed her eyes. How did she know? Did she accidentally tell her when she was drunk, or did Claude snitch on her?

“Even so…” she said, resting her head on Hilda’s shoulder. “Even so, you’re still special to me. Even if I was always just another friend to you, you were the first one for me. The first in so, so long.”

“Marianne… when did you get so bold…? I thought you were the submissive type,” she said, trying her best to deflect.

“It’s because you’re talking down about my girlfriend. Of course I’m going to stand up for her,” she said, breathing out a small chuckle.

Hilda placed her hand on Marianne’s back, standing together like that in silence for a while. She was glad Marianne’s eyes weren’t on her face; she didn’t want to even begin to imagine the face she was making, let alone the color of it. In a voice barely louder than a whisper, she mumbled:

“Maybe being relied on isn’t so bad after all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is literally no continuity do not look at me but after this ill try to make them go chronologically. starting with the waho adventures. also do not LOOK at me i have not written a chatlog in 10 chapters and i never will


	6. commemorative photograph

When the day started, Claude didn’t figure he’d be read like a book. He would actually go so far as to say that his “hot date,” as he would have called it prior to five minutes ago, wrote the Book of Claude Von Riegan, and he was simply a puppet, dancing in her strings. So: going back to this morning:

After sending his cursory messages to Sylvain about being prepared to come hang out and unconsciously sprinting at full tilt to his dorm, his day finally began. He told Sylvain about Edelgard’s message, because, being the social creature he was, and trusting Sylvain the way he did, of course he told Sylvain.

They had a good laugh about it, but Claude, unconsciously, withheld his feelings. Sylvain, not wanting to step too far, didn’t ask about it. He wasn’t quite sure how Claude felt about it, other than finding the message humorous in content but cute in how earnest it was. Sylvain didn’t quite have a read on Claude yet. Some things were beyond his scope. If Claude just smiled like normal, he couldn’t tell when his eyes were looking elsewhere.

They played their Pokemon battles for however long before they had to go to class, and it seemed again that Claude was readable. Everything seemed normal to Sylvain past that. Maybe it was just an off day for him? He still worried, but, his philosophy was not to worry too much about things out of his control. Pushing the envelope never worked on Claude, so he never tried it.

The next person he talked to was Dorothea. They shared their first period together, and she brought up Edelgard’s message to him. They were good friends because of the whole group chat, and as mentioned before, she did _love_ to gossip with him. They talked about… well, anything, really. They liked to exchange makeup tips; she ran a beauty channel on YouTube, which he was subscribed to and received notifications for every new upload. You know, on top of the @here pings in the group chat.

He told her a modified story. How it was the first thing he saw when he woke up, but since it was so proper he felt the need to respond to it in kind, how he wasn’t sure if what he sent would live up to her expectations. He told her he was nervous for his date coming up, with such a menacing message. He was, of course, joking.

She couldn’t tell either what he was thinking. She got a message from Sylvain earlier that said he thought something was off with Claude, and if she didn’t think about it very hard, nothing was wrong. Even when she was thinking about it very hard, he seemed like usual. Maybe they were both being weird. Then again, if someone has a bad feeling like that, especially one’s best friend, it’s not a good idea to shrug it off. Still, she couldn’t tell if anything was off.

With his first three classes out of the way, the time for lunch was upon them. She decided she couldn’t eat in a noisy cafeteria, and she didn’t trust the food there (for both taste and the human factor of people picking up food and putting it back), so she brought her own meal. Claude, learning something new about her, decided they should pick a neutral location that isn’t there and he’ll meet up with her after buying a meal real quick. She decided against that and told him she’d wait outside and they could go together. That forced a genuine smile out of him. It’s the little things.

She chose quite the scenic view. It was a balcony of the second story of the Humanities building. They were outside, so they felt the cool spring breeze, though Claude lamented the fact that he had to wear his scarf while he ate. Still, the view was worth it. He wasn’t particularly hungry, so he just got a caesar salad. It was pretty light, plus it was healthy. He hoped his lack of appetite scored him points with her, but maybe that was a little optimistic. And, you know, greedy. And disingenuous. The usual.

Between bites of salad they engaged in a riveting discussion about the politics of Crests in Fodlan; despite what all of the big politicians say about Crests and how Crest (or lack thereof) discrimination was abolish a hundred years ago, it’s still going on. It can’t even be called its last vestiges—it simply exists. Whether or not their bias is conscious does not mean it does not exist. They were in agreement that Crest discrimination should not exist anymore, but what to do about it remained the issue. Edelgard suggest removing everyone in power and letting merit and the people decide who should reside on Congress, while Claude remarked that that isn’t exactly a sound idea either, as the people can always elect a moron or someone objectively unqualified, if they looked at the current President. It went both ways.

However, this was not Claude’s usual style. He was never the type to rebut someone’s argument and not offer his own; in fact, he considered most ideas to be worth pursuing, just, not all worth pursuing equally. Edelgard picked up on that. She also picked up on where his eyes were looking when he talked, despite constantly commanding his full attention whenever she spoke. She wondered if that was because she had charisma, if he was interested in what she had to say, interested in her looks, or just politeness.

When she finally presented an argument she felt truly sound, he gave her a slight chuckle and shrugged his shoulders, admitting that he had no counter to that. Usually, that would feel satisfying, but she knew something was off. It didn’t feel right. With that last answer she knew that it was a mix of the four, but mostly politeness. He wasn’t all there.

She was looking forward so much to this date and he ruined it by… being in a bad mood, for whatever reason. That wasn’t his fault, and he was clearly putting on as clear of a front as he could, probably for her sake, but that was precisely the thing that pissed her off. She wanted him to be selfish, to confess his woes to her, to trust her. He instead chose to forego any of that and pretend to be like normal. For her sake. She could not explain why she hated that.

So wiped her mouth with her handkerchief and decided to speak.

“I can tell you’re not a very trusting sort. I knew that from the start. The way you carry yourself, the way you interact with others, that cheery smile you put on all the time. You’re a person with a lot of friends and you want to seem like it. I’m not sure how much you want to be friends with these people, whether that goes beyond what they can do for you. Still, I wouldn’t call that manipulative. It’s not like you’re only friends with these people to use them and throw them away when they’re done. You just want a support net. It’s only natural. And don’t even think about reading my words as sarcasm. I mean what I say.”

Claude’s eyes widened. His pulse quickened. What is she talking about?

“But you only tell them what they want to hear. You only say the right buzz words. You never talk about yourself, but you get to know everyone. You know about Ashe’s foster father, and the kinds of horses Ingrid likes. You know that Bernadetta is so seclusive because of her father’s brutality, and about Raphael’s parents. But what have you told them about yourself? What do they know about you? Did no one teach you that communication is a two-way street? What kind of friendship would it be if one person just droned on and on and on about themselves?”

He bit his lip. He clenched his fists. He didn’t want to interrupt her. He couldn’t.

“You’ve gotten so used to that feeling that you even started doing it to your friends. To the people you think you trust. You’re social, so you long to tell everything about yourself to someone. You want to share the experiences you have with another person. That’s the only way it has meaning. If it’s just you, what’s the point? Being alone is scary.”

He swallowed spit. He realized his throat was dry.

“Have you ever wondered? If anyone can see through your façade? Do you think that your words and face and body language all truly convey the mask you try to hide behind? You’ve clearly spent years perfecting your poker face, and yet, do you ever think that anyone knows what you’re hiding? Or better yet, do you even know how you feel yourself? Do you fool yourself into thinking you don’t want anyone to know that you’re hurting, but you unconsciously leave a trail of breadcrumbs behind for people to follow?”

He reached for his water. His hand was shaking.

“But… when was the last time that happened? That someone followed that trail? Never, right? Of course not. They think it’s out of line. They don’t want to ask you if you’re okay because, other than the slight discrepancy, you’re perfectly fine. Everything is normal. And you can’t ask them to care because the point is to see if they’ll ask. You want someone to break through your façade and tell you they do care, so you know you can trust them. But you don’t want anyone to take off your mask.”

…

“You’re cynical. You’re almost foolishly optimistic and hope and want for the good in all people, but you don’t trust anyone further than you can throw them. Your contradictory nature is your undoing, however. You hide behind your masks, donning an appropriate mask for any situation, but you make sure to reveal your true face before you change. For a split second.”

Her next words came slowly, each boring a hole into his chest.

“You don’t know who to trust.”

He opened his mouth in protest, but no words came out.

“You’re scared. You don’t want to be alone. And yet, you don’t want to make yourself vulnerable to the people around you, somehow especially around those who care about you. Who you care about. You don’t want to be betrayed, but you think that somehow your lying and masking isn’t the same thing. You’re childish, Riegan.”

She spoke with absolute certainty; she had never been more right about anything she’d ever said in her life. She packed up her containers and stuffed them into her purse, in no particular rush. She stood up and headed to the door, but before she left, she made sure to turn around and offer some parting words.

“Thank you for trying to put on a brave face for me. I understand you did it out of kindness and consideration for my feelings. The conversation was still riveting, of course, but it lacked the charm I’ve come to expect from you. If you still have it in you to meet with me again, I would love to have another chat with you.”

She spoke no other words; she simply turned around and left. Claude could only chuckle in response. After being so thoroughly read and systematically dismantled, what else could he do? So he sat there on that balcony for a while. He wasn’t quite sure how much time had passed; he had simply allowed the message to soak in his head as he lay there. He watched the sun travel westward across the sky, taking sips of his water when necessary. The sky filled with an orange hue when, wouldn’t you know it, miss Goneril showed up his next meal from McNaldos.

“I didn’t tell you I was up here,” he said, graciously accepting the bag of lukewarm fast food.

“Didn’t need to. Tons of reports from people of one Mister Claude von Riegan vegging out on the second floor of the humanities building. I saw you from outside,” she replied effortlessly, taking a seat. “What’s on your mind, Claude?”

“I’m—” he started, then remembered Edelgard’s words from earlier.

“Don’t start, Claude. I can tell when something’s up. I’m not going anywhere until you talk to me.”

“Surely you have better things to do than listen to me drone on and on about myself,” he replied. He used the same words as her without realizing it. Damn it. She was in his head.

“You’d be surprised, actually. It seems these days all I do is console people. Maybe I should change my major to psychology,” she said, playfully. It got a chuckle out of him. “Talk to ol’ Valentine. What’s wrong?”

“I told you it’s not going to catch on if you just keep saying it,” he laughed. “Okay, fine, I get it. Thanks for the food, by the way. I’ll tell you what just happened to me, girl, you would not believe…”

So he explained what happened to her. How he felt about it, of course, not omitting any details. He thought that she was honestly onto something; he felt like something was wrong this morning, but he couldn’t really tell. He went into defense mode automatically and didn’t realize it, then Sylvain didn’t pick up on it either. Still though…

“I kind of admire her. If anything I think she’s hotter now. Nothing sexier than a woman that can kick my ass, in both the literal and figurative way…” he mumbled, more talking to himself than anything.

“I wonder if that’s how Marianne feels. I dunno what it is with you guys, but I’d much rather have a soft girlfriend… or, really, I’d prefer a dumb, sexy man. Well, I’m not complaining about what I have. I prefer her to anything else.”

“Way to rub it in, Hilda,” he playfully jabbed her shoulder. “I think I just got rejected… one… two… three times in the span of a sentence. Woe is me.” He draped his arm over his forehead and leaned back in his seat, pretending to faint.

“Oh, what are you talking about? Only twice, Claude. Only a true idiot would stay outside on a winter day for 5 hours because he got read. Besides, were it not for both of our affections lying elsewhere, I would have made a marriage pact with you already.”

He blushed, which, for him, was always accompanied by a smile. He could never hide it. He pulled her in for a hug and even rustled her hair a bit, even though he knew she hated it. Which she absolutely yelled at him for it, but deep down, she didn’t really hate it. It was just a lot of effort she put into her hair.

“Okay. I’m going to ask her to meet up with me again so we can talk about it.”

“Yeah. You do that. I’m going to hit Marianne’s place so I can have a good reason for my hair looking like this.”

Claude stopped typing to look up from his phone with the blankest expression he could muster. Then, softly, “What the hell, Hilda?”

She stuck out her tongue and started to walk away before he stopped her one last time, grabbing her wrist. He was silent for a moment, then: “Love you, Hilda.”

She brought him into a hug and rustled his hair in return. Even though she knew she would hate this if it were here. Which he absolutely did yell at her for that exact reason, but deep down, he didn’t really hate it. He just liked teasing her. Also a lot of effort went into his hair in the morning as well.

“Love you too, Claude. See ya round?”

“I’ll ping you if we’re still doing Uno on Discord. See ya.”

And with that, she was gone.

claude (18:08): hey. gonna make this short: if youre not busy right now come meet up with me. wherever’s convenient.

Edelgard von Hresvelg (18:15): Sure. I just finished up the last of my assignments for the week, so I have the time to spare. I will assume that, since your message was so curt, you wish to say everything in person. So too will I. You may choose the locale, as I chose the locale for our lunch earlier.

claude (18:15): we’ll walk and talk. ill wait for u outside the black eagle dorm. in fact im kind of here now, just chilling in the lobby cause its cold outside. dress warm

Edelgard von Hresvelg (18:16): I’m on my way.

The way that the lobby was stationed, he could clearly see the staircase from where she would descend. As such, he took occasional glances at it during conversations from dorm members he was on good terms with. He had a lively conversation with Caspar about the newest chapter of Naruto, where he was pleasantly surprised by how much insight Caspar had about the characters. He guessed Lin had something to do with that, though Caspar’s dedication to the series certainly caught him off guard.

He supposed that was proof enough that he didn’t give the people around him enough credit. He took Caspar at his face as someone who was a bit stupid but with a good heart, but there was more to him under the surface. Her words came back to haunt him, it seemed. In fact, it seemed to laugh at him.

“Well, Claude. Shall we be on our way?” said the voice in his head, offering him a disembodied hand. He took it without thinking (or rather, still zoned out), before he realized it was the woman in question herself. As if responding late for a cue, he yelled in reaction to her sudden presence. This scared her at first, but upon realizing that he was just being silly, she laughed at it. So, overall, not a good start.

“Jeez… this really tanks my credibility, huh? Sorry for yelling like that,” he said, leading her by the hand out of the building. He hadn’t realized the implications of his actions until they’d already exited the building, and though he tried to smoothly play it off, his failure to meet her eyes gave her the upper hand. She chortled again, this time sounding more heavenly than before. That was a genuine laugh, huh?

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t hold it against you. Where are we headed?”

“Dunno,” he said, almost immediately. “I find it better to think with the wind on my face. Clears my head. If I have something to contemplate I’ll sit outside for a bit. Still… not the biggest fan of the winter.”

“Cheers to that,” she nodded. “No good memories of the winter.”

“One too many shitty Christmases, eh?”

She laughed wryly. He touched upon a nerve, it seemed. “You think I had Christmas growing up?”

“That makes two of us, then. I’d say not being Christian is half of it, but it probably ends up being a cool 10%.”

“Oh? This is the first I’m hearing of that. Life wasn’t so easy for you growing up, is it?”

He breathed into the cold air, watching the small cloud drift away. In his head, he flipped a coin. To tell, or not to tell.

“Something like that.” He started, taking care to only look ahead of himself. In his head he began mapping a route that lead them through the scenic to a restaurant “I’ll spare you the sob story; I’m sure it’ll just dampen the m—”

She didn’t say anything to cut him off; she merely took his hand in her own. Gave it a little squeeze. He tilted his head down and to the right a bit, closed his eyes and laughed sheepishly. He wasn’t sure if the blush on his nose and cheeks was from the cold or not. The smile certainly wasn’t.

He thought about adding something like ‘I warned you,’ or continuing any sort of line of thought there but decided against it. She had since let go of his hand, but he knew she was invested. He didn’t want to disrespect her in that regard, so he withheld his self-deprecating comments. He found it a bit hard, though. He had to remind himself that it was okay to let his guard down. He breathed a sigh, then rubbed the side of his neck. His nails dug into his skin—enough to make him feel the sting of pain, but not to draw blood.

“Where do I even begin…?” he muttered to himself. He didn’t expect an answer.

“Start at the freshest thought and work down from there. That’s how I do it, anyway.”

His heart skipped a beat. He nodded, then took a deep breath and collected his thoughts. He forced a smile, that fake confidence of his being a catalyst for composure.

“As you may expect, life wasn’t easy for me. I’m half Fodlan…ese? Whatever the term is.” That elicited a laugh on her part. “On my mother’s side. Part Almyran. My parentage caused me no shortage of issues when I was younger.”

“Well, that is certainly unexpected. To think you were Almyran… By all means, continue.”

“When I was a kid I never got fair treatment. ‘Cause those little runts saw me walking around with a pale-skinned woman, they would insult me whenever she wasn’t around. Or worse. Usually worse. I’d really rather not go into detail about it, but it was pretty rough.”

“I can imagine. Well, I can see the Fodlan influence in you, for sure.”

“Yeah? So could they. They would hurl insults at me about anything they could think of; my hair, my eyes, my dress, and so on. I retaliated pretty mercilessly, as well. A young Claude was a much more petite than he is now, so fighting back wasn’t really an option. I would pack rocks in my bag and fling them from a slingshot whenever they would pick a fight with me,” he laughed.

“Ah, so not only were you crafty, but you were rowdy too? I can’t imagine that went over well with your parents.” She giggled, playing along with his attitude.

“Oh of course not. My old man,” he started, cracking up remembering it, “he would tie me to a horse and drag me around for that kind of behavior. I tried to fight him too, but, well, what’s an 11-year-old gonna do against a grown man?”

“Goodness! That doesn’t sound healthy at all. Are you sure you’re well adjusted?”

“Definitely not.” He couldn’t contain his grin, not that he tried. “But it was all love. At the end of the day, I don’t resent him for that. It’s hard to even say I resent him, but he did put some weird ideas into my head that I had to work out after coming into my own. He was… pretty old fashioned. I remember him telling me that I should dress more appropriately. I remember asking him if girls are supposed to dress so daintily, then why did he marry mom, and he really let me have it for that. Didn’t answer my question either!”

“Oh, I understand. I remember my dad telling me something similar to that. It’s almost hard to be mad at them when they’re only looking out for your best interest, but it’s still a frustrating thing to hear.”

He ran out in front of her to grab her hands, staring her in the eyes. “You get it! They’re always like ‘A girl should wear dresses and a boy should wear…’” he paused for a moment, thinking about clothes a boy would wear. Naturally, the answer was pants. “Shorts..? Uh, whatever boys wear.”

She laughed so hard she snorted. “Aren’t you a boy?”

“That information is confidential. If you want to know you’ll have to accompany me to dinner, good lady,” he smirked, offering her a grin. She brushed past him, flipping her hair at him in the process. He caught a glimpse of her rolling her eyes, with the slightest of smiles on her face.

“So? What about your mom then? You mentioned her?”

“Oh, her? I love my mom, she’s great. She dropped out of college to move to Almyra with my old man. Something came up and he urgently had to move back, or so I hear, so she gave up on her education for him. Takes a lot of courage.”

“She what?” she said, shocked. “That seems a little extreme… Is that what it’s like being in love?”

He took a moment to consider her words. He nodded to himself once. “That’s what I said! She was a real bold and brash sort, to perfectly compliment my dad. Pops was reckless and tended to jump into things without thinking, and she was… a bit of the same. To be honest, I still have a hard time following her train of thought. She’ll perfectly think things through in a moment and decide something on the spot, but some aspect of it she’ll have forgotten about completely. Like when she moved with him to Almyra she… _forgot to tell her parents?_ So she came back, like, 15 years later with me in tow and said, ‘hey take care of the runt’ and just left? _They thought she was dead?_ ”

She chortled at that for a few minutes, having to pause for breath. He was, of course, caught in that laughter as well. He was sure they looked silly, walking and laughing like that for that amount of time.

_“Why would she do that?”_

“I don’t know! I have no idea how the thought never crossed her mind even once to tell her parents she was leaving! She’s so smart all of the time and just every time there will be some ridiculous inconsistency with her plans and it just boggles my fucking mind! I spend weeks devising some schemes to make sure they go perfectly, and she just jumps into things headfirst after thinking about them for five minutes!”

“How are you two even related?”

“ _Exactly!_ ”

“She sounds like a fun lady,” she replied, giving him a teary smile. “I can see where you get it from— _fuuuuck_ my cheeks hurt from laughing too much.”

His heart skipped another beat. “Say that again?”

“You wish,” she smiled at him—then swore again for her aching cheeks.

“She was, as you may have guessed, not the type to wear dresses. I wouldn’t be surprised if she wore a tux at their wedding. She used to get into brawls with the kids who would mess with me and even the teachers for their roles as bystanders. She was probably my biggest influence, especially as a teenager.”

“Hardcore…” she blurted out. “I-I mean, yeah. Er, yes. She does seem very cool.”

“El…” he started, a devious smirk coming on. “Do you have the hots for my mom?”

She blushed, pulling up her scarf to cover her mouth. “Don’t be ridiculous! I don’t want anything to do with her romantically or sexually! She just seems…” she trailed off.

He pushed his cheek next to hers as they continued walking. “Seems…?”

“I want to be like her too! Gods, don’t make me be so blunt about it!”

He cackled as she punched his arm. He wasn’t sure if his heart beating so fast was because of the throbbing in his arm or the woman next to him. …Well, those aren’t mutually exclusive.

“As I get older, though, I do want to be more like my old man. There are a lot of shitty things about him that I hate, a lot of traits he has that I would loathe to share, but he’s certainly more good than bad. As much as I don’t hate him for tying me to a horse and dragging me around, you can obviously see how that’s… less than ideal behavior.”

“Of course. I know far too much about that kind of thing; I can assure you, it’s not pretty. That’s a story for another time, though.”

He nodded, giving her hand a tiny squeeze, as she did for him. She shook her head, so he continued. “He touched a lot of people. If you go to Almyra, he’s kind of a household name. He knows so many people, and the majority of them are positive relationships. He’s not perfect, he’s not a paragon, he’s not without fault, but he sure does have a lot of good qualities. He was around, you know? He was there for me. At a point, him and Mom were all I had.” 

She nodded. “I think I understand what you mean. I think it’s good that you can still love and appreciate your dad, for what it’s worth. My relationship with my own dad was rocky, and he passed right after I graduated from high school. Cherish him for both of us.”

“Hey, you can cherish him too if you want. We can make a sneak trip to Almyra during the dip in the school year. Hell, we can go right now!”

“I don’t know, Claude, meeting your parents? You do understand the implications of that, right?”

“Oh I know full well what I’m asking you.” He took a few steps ahead of her, stopping her in her tracks.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Claude…”

He took her hands in his own again, giving her the most serious look he could muster. “Edelgard Von Hresvelg… would you do me the honor…”

“Claude!” She could barely hear herself over her heartbeat.

“Of having dinner with me?”

“Cla—” she started, until she processed what he asked her. Then, louder: “ ** _Claude!!!_** ”

He cackled again, this time her joining in at that awful prank, neither of them aware of the blush that arose on their own cheeks, only on their partner’s. After he was able to compose himself, he pointed a thumb over his shoulder, making eye contact with her.

“It’s not Almyra, but it is Almyran BBQ. Whenever I’m feeling down I like to come here, cause it reminds me of home. Honestly I expected this conversation to be much bleaker, but… I find talking to you is easy. I was all smiles before I knew it.” He beamed at her, the same smile she noticed Hubert showed her whenever he was truly happy. She smiled as well, closing her eyes and nodding.

“Sounds lovely. I’ll accept your Almyran BBQ this time, but you’ll have to show me the real deal next time,” she said, locking elbows with him.

And for the first time in his life, Claude had finally experienced Gay Panic.


	7. picture frame

claude (13:57): so…

hilda♡: wats up?

claude: jesus Christ are you always on

hilda♡: no, i jus always make time for my little claudey

claude: im blushing

hilda♡: the ol’ valentine charm ;)

claude: so now you’re just saying it to spite me huh

claude: …

claude: anyway you were right

hilda♡: i usually am

hilda♡: wat ab

claude: el

hilda♡: oooo y’all r on nickname basis now? cute :heart_eyes:

claude: :smirk: :smirk: :smirk:

hilda♡: but fr i didn’t do anything

hilda♡: all i did was bring u sum cold fast food

claude: maybe i fabricated the memories then

hilda♡: i don’t mind taking credit for something i didn’t do i jus want u 2 kno the facts

claude: anw things went well

claude: i took her to almyran bbq

hilda♡: oh shit

hilda♡: what an honor

claude: right?

claude: the nostalgic flavor always gets me man

hilda♡: so you really have the hots for this woman, huh

claude: it only got worse yday

claude: we were walkin n talkin and i shared way more of my life than i rly intended to ngl

claude: i told her we should take a visit to almyra during spring break

claude: _i told her we should go meet my parents in my fatherland during our week off from school, hilda_

hilda♡: oh my god

hilda♡: ur turnin into a shoujo character

claude: i thought u didn’t watch anime

claude: now u kno the lingo?

hilda♡: i don’t! mari is the 1 who watches that crap

hilda♡: some of it is entertainin tho

hilda♡: ill nvr get how any1 could want to watch shitty half-baked high school drama

hilda♡: but its fun 4 me 2 laugh at how stupid the drama gets

hilda♡: this bitch had a spat w her bf cuz he didn’t want to split a crepe like bitch its not tht deep LMAO

claude: christ

claude: marianne is just ok w u shittin on them shows like that?

hilda♡: yea for the most part

hilda♡: the only parts i make fun of r the ones we both find silly

hilda♡: there are parts of the romance tht i find enjoyable 2 watch tho

hilda♡: like when the 2 main characters pretend to be going out because one of them says something stupid like “oh i told my friends i had a boyfren but i actually don’t so can u pretend to be mine”

hilda♡: that shit is so fuckin funny to me

hilda♡: its also fuckin adorable u kno

hilda♡: 2 dumbass kids cant be honest w their feelins so they resort to bullshit like that 2 figure it out

hilda♡: i luv it

claude: sounds like u became a shoujo anime enthusiast in the span of 2 months

hilda♡: the shoujo anime is just an excuse to smash

claude: you’ve clearly been watching it though

hilda♡: -

claude: LOL

claude: LOOOOOOOOOOOOL

claude: DO U LIKE SHOUJO ANIME HILDA

claude: ITS OK U CAN TELL UR OL BUDDY OL FREN CLAUDE

claude: I WONT TELL UR SECRET TO ANYONE

hilda♡: oh fuck off

claude: LMFAOOOOOOOO

claude: not 2 weeks ago u was telling me watchin anime is for kids

claude: now look at u

hilda♡: i would never have _started_ this shit if my girlfriend wasnt a FUCKING WEEB

claude: HAHAHAHA

hilda♡: fucking

hilda♡: ANYWAY

hilda♡: was that all u wanted from me

claude: yea p much

claude: i dunno

claude: just wanted to talk to you again after that day

claude: gotta keep my bestie in the loop

hilda♡: aww, claude

hilda♡: i love u too

claude: i love you MORE

hilda♡: we’re not doing this today

claude: that just means i win

claude (14:28): alright, ill catch u later

hilda♡ (14:28): cya

\--

Edelgard Von Hresvelg (17:38): Dorothea, I come bearing excellent news. When you’re next available, please respond to this message. I wish to share these good tidings as soon as possible. Thank you.

doro✩ (17:38): whats up, edie?

doro✩: also don’t be so stiff

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: Oh! I did not expect you to be online, considering your bubble was grey. Good afternoon, then. How was your day?

doro✩: it was alright

doro✩: slyvie came over and we played some pokemon together on the switch

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: If I am interrupting your personal time, you can always message me later. My apologies for intruding.

doro✩: oh don’t worry bout it

doro✩: nothing’s more important than my edie

doro✩: besides, it’s not like this game is really taxing on my concentration

doro✩: just talk to me hon, i wanna hear about your news!! :bi_heart:

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: …Very well, then. It does warm my heart to hear you would make time for me, I confess. Allow me to share, then. This will take a bit of time to type out, however.

doro✩(17:40): sure thing! just take your time, sweetie :two_hearts:

Edelgard Von Hresvelg (17:43): I invited Claude on a lunch date, as you know (though I failed to mention it was a date out of sheer embarrassment), but I slipped into my old habits again. I noticed that he was merely offering to me answers that I would like to hear, and not actually giving me his true thoughts and opinions, the entire reason why I invited him for lunch. This irritated me, and I… exploded on him. I attacked him for it (verbally, of course), and left before I could hear him retort. I felt so bad about it, when he was only thinking of me, that I only yelled at him and walked out.

doro✩: oh no

doro✩: im so sorry, edie…

doro✩: it’s ok! im sure… he doesn’t hate you!

doro✩: if he does then, well, there are more fish in the sea anyway

Edelgard Von Hresvelg (17:47): As I was sitting at home, stewing over what I’d done and ranting to Hubert about how much of a fool I’d been, I received a message from Claude on Discord. He told me he wanted to meet again. At the time, I’d guessed it was to apologize, since, even though he was only thinking of me, he still hurt my feelings. Claude’s not the kind of character to let something like that slide; he’d never simply say he was right and I was the one in the wrong for being hurt. So I messaged him and told him I’d be right out—I, too, was eager to apologize.

doro✩: right, right

doro✩: i don’t think either of you were in the wrong, but i’m glad you both took your own responsibility for the other’s heartache, however minor it may have been.

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: Indeed.

Edelgard Von Hresvelg (17:50): Ironically enough, however, neither of us really apologized to the other. He decided the best thing for him to do to apologize was be genuine with me, for once. For the sake of his privacy, I will not divulge the contents of the conversation. From what I gathered, he doesn’t share that kind of information with others often. I am aware you two are on fairly amicable terms, but still; if he hasn’t told you, I will not be the one to do so. I hope you understand.

doro✩: of course!

doro✩: i respect you for your decision, edie

doro✩: and of course i don’t hold it against you

doro✩: i love you :bi_heart:

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: Thank you.

Edelgard Von Hresvelg (17:52): That said, to reiterate: neither of us did any apologizing to the other. In retrospect, I find it quite humorous. I can’t assume he showed up to apologize, but if it is true, then that is quite the irony. We both had the idea to apologize, then forgot to? It sounds like something out of a cheesy movie. I digress, though.

doro✩: hahaha

doro✩: it does!

doro✩: if you ended up in a good enough mood to joke about it, then that’s good.

doro✩: if you both can understand each other well enough without having to vocalize certain feelings, that can’t be a bad thing. not in my mind, at least

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: True enough. I wonder if we’re truly on that level yet, come to think of it. I hope so.

doro✩: sounds to me like you are!

doro✩: but please, go on

Edelgard Von Hresvelg (17:58): We walked and talked, mostly meandering and talking about our lives. Well, I say that, but it was mostly him doing the talking. I interjected a few times with what I found relatable about whatever he was talking about but tried to not share too much of my own life. Not… out of distrust, but because… I don’t know. I just didn’t want to take out of his time to share. I hope that didn’t come off as discourteous or rude.

doro✩: you shouldn’t dwell on it imo

doro✩: (in my opinion)

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: (Thank you.)

doro✩: i doubt he took it personally, knowing him

doro✩: (np)

doro✩: sounds like things didn’t end after that, so you’re probably fine

Edelgard Von Hresvelg (18:05): That is correct. We had to have walked for an hour or so, just talking and reminiscing. I’m sure you’re aware of it, but he can be quite the comedian. He’s an excellent conversationalist, his humor is great, easy on the eyes, and mindful of what he’s saying to who… so to see him be so bashful and meek about anything was definitely a bit of a shock. I could tell he didn’t want me to see him for who he truly was, without any of his masks on, and dislike the person I saw. But, as it turns out, we have a lot in common. I’m… it’s a little embarrassing to admit, but, the more I talk with him, the more things I find to like.

doro✩: aww

doro✩: im so happy for u, edie!

doro✩: don’t worry about that, girl

doro✩: that’s just what it feels like to have a crush

doro✩: and im sure he feels the same way

doro✩: considering he never opened up to me in the same way he did with you, he must think you’re special!

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: You… you really think so? Am I not just foolishly reading into this?

doro✩: well shit girl if you are so am i!

doro✩: don’t overthink it

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: You’re right. I shouldn’t overthink this. I have a crush on Claude von Riegan.

doro✩: HELL YEA U DO

doro✩: THAT’S A FINE MAN

doro✩: A LEMON CAKE OF A MAN, EDELGARD

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: A… lemon cake?

doro✩: sweet and spongey

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: What…

doro✩: :blush:

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: I do not understand you, sometimes, Dorothea.

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: Well, the rest is simple enough. After our discussion he invited me to Almyran Barbeque, then walked me back to my dorm. I locked arms with him on the way back. It’s… quite embarrassing, thinking back on it.

doro✩: yall are so cute together

doro✩: if i was claude in that situation i would gay panic

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: What is “gay panic”?

doro✩: uh… remind me the next time we’re in person and ill explain it

doro✩: im gonna need some visual cues for that one

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: Very well.

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: Then, I shall take my leave. I need to get ready, anyhow.

doro✩: get ready? for what?

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: I… couldn’t wait to see him again, so I invited him over to help study for one of our shared classes. I only hope I can concentrate on the material…

doro✩: omg

doro✩: SHE SHMOOVIN

doro✩: HOW YOU INVITE HIM ON MORE DATES THAN HE INVITES YOU ON

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: Oh hush! It is nothing like that!

doro✩: finally a heroine with some fucking guts

doro✩: tell that boy whats up!

doro✩: invite him on dates!

doro✩: i believe in you edie! you’re gonna make that boy fall for you one way or another!

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Edelgard Von Hresvelg: I MUST BE TAKING MY LEAVE NOW, THANK YOU FOR INDULGING ME AND GOODBYE!!!!

doro✩: heheh

doro✩: have fun on your date, edie! :bi_heart:

doro✩: hope you get a lot of “studying” done! :smirk:

Edelgard von Hresvelg (18:15): SHUT UPPPPPP AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IT’S NOT LIKE THAAAAAAAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

\--

claude (17:38): ok one update

claude: el invited me on a study date

hilda♡: no fucking way

hilda♡: she got bigger balls than u do

claude: I MEAN

claude: I GUESS?

claude: THAT’S NOT FAIR THOUGH

hilda♡: ijs

claude: oh whatever

hilda♡: uk i love u

claude: anyway im fuckin hype

hilda♡: you fuckin better be, the fuck

hilda♡: if mari ever invited me on a date during our honeymoon phase i’d have been all up inside ur dms bragging about it

claude: she literally did

claude: and you literally were

claude: it was cute and also im your biggest supporter and stan

claude: also the founder of your fan club

claude: so i didn’t say anything

claude: but don’t forget about the shit that you did

hilda♡: cap

claude: how is that cap

hilda♡: i don’t rmbr it so its cap

claude: im going to fucking cap you if you keep talkin to me like that

claude: anw

claude: i think she like me hilda

hilda♡: yea ight

hilda♡: if anything ur the one who likes her more

hilda♡: at least 100000000 times more

claude: why u gotta call me out like that

hilda♡: someone gotta keep u humble

hilda♡: leave it to ol valentine

claude: fuck off with that valentine bullshit

claude: its not gonna be a fuckin thing

hilda♡: “stop trying to make it a fuckin thing gretchen”

claude: stop trying to make it a fuckin thing gretchen

claude: .,

claude: you cant soul read me like that

hilda♡: who the fuck was it that introduced u to mean girls

claude: HOW ELSE WOULD I KNOW ABOUT FODLAN MOVIES

hilda♡: never forget ur roots bitch

hilda♡: now go “study” with your lil girlfren or whatever

claude: SHE’S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND AND WE’RE NOT LIKE THAT YET

hilda♡: yet

claude: fuck

claude: fuck

claude: fuck

claude: fuck

claude: fuck

hilda♡: yea ight

hilda♡: get lost lover boy

claude (17:55): i’ll remember this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wanted to do another one of these chapters, a bit of an epilogue for the last chapter; not to say that im done writing this story but to give it a bit of closure and to lead into the next chapter.


End file.
